Our Manifestos

Modern Marketing in The Observer

I have written an article for today's Observer newspaper, the Sunday sister of The Guardian. It's about the growth of citizen's media and you can read it here. Or below...

"You, too, can become a Global Broadcaster"

James Cherkoff on how 'citizen hacks' are challenging the might of corporations all over the world.

There is a new player in the media
business. It is staffed by millions of people all round the world,
creates mountains of varied content, is highly trusted by its
readership, is growing exponentially and has a zero overhead.

It's called Citizen's Media or Consumer Generated Media and is the
result of cheap, accessible digital publishing tools being available to
a mass market for the first time.

Or as respected US commentator Jeff Jarvis puts it, "people now own
the printing press and the broadcast tower and the barrier to entry to
media has been blown away."

Blogs are the highest profile type of Citizen’s Media. To date they
have been viewed as a niche activity pursued by navel-gazers and geeks.
However, they are growing fast. Online blog monitor Technorati.com
tracks more than 14 million blogs and says the blogopshere is doubling in size every five months.

Media professionals have tended to write off Citizen's Media as
amateur and poor quality, and of course a lot of it is. However,
enthusiasm for these new media tools is infectious and many amateurs
are striking cords among their audiences in ways that traditional media
struggles to do. Hard as it might be to believe, this grassroots media
has its own experts, celebrities and authoritative voices.

A key element of this new type of media is the trust that people have in
it. If someone's blog raves about a new product people take notice
because they know the publisher has no vested interest. And
unsatisfied customers can immediately tell the world and hook up with
their disgruntled brethren. The resulting energy and passion can make
traditional media look quite pallid in comparison.

In this way, Citizen’s Media has gradually created a group of
independently-minded critics who constantly publish their views to
faithful audiences. They can be thought of as the '5th estate'. And
if there is a story to tell they will publish and be damned.

Last year when a customer of US bicycle lock
manufacturer, Kryptonite, found that his super-tough lock could be
opened with a ballpoint pen he immediately published his findings on
San Francisco's bikeforums.net. The post was read by more than 400,000
people and a video, showing a ballpoint in action, was downloaded more
than three million times in just a few days. Within a week Kryptonite
retailers were clearing their shelves, thousands of products were being
returned and the New York Times had picked up the story. The company has since replaced 350,000 products at their own expense.

Jonathan Miller, Head of AOL in the US, testifies to the popularity
of Citizen’s Media. He says that 60 – 70 per cent of the time people
spend on AOL is devoted to ‘audience generated content’.

But it’s not all about blogs. Podcasting is the new audio cousin of
weblogs which allows individuals to publish (podcast) their own DIY
radioshows, on whatever subject they choose. It uses a combination of
audio files and RSS syndication to create an audience. This means
consumers can download shows directly to their MP3 players and
time-shift their listening to when it suits them. And guess what ?
There’s no advertising.

Citizen’s
Media is one element of the way in which individuals are taking control
of marketing channels. The first step was for digital consumers to use
technology, such as PVRs, to avoid mass marketing. The next step was for consumers to use the
same technology to create their own media.

For executives who already feel they are living in a goldfish bowl
the idea of their own consumers owning media and becoming influential
watchdogs can be alarming. However, this trend is growing, not going
away. Corporates need to engage and in some cases collaborate with
Citizen’s Media as they do with any other influential group.

Google and Ebay spent nothing on above-the-line advertising when
building their multi-billion dollar brands, but took great care to
consult with their customers at every step. Ebay's CEO, Meg Whitman,
has described her job as, "something like a mayor running a town-hall
meeting."

In some ways Citizen's Media is just a new version of
consumer-lobbying groups. However, they are greatly more accessible,
spark more passion and have instant, global reach.

It will be interesting to see which sector of the marketing world
corporates turn to for help in managing their relationships with these
newly empowered consumers.

The PR industry would seem to be the natural partner as it is very
familiar in dealing with stakeholders and lobbying groups on behalf of
its clients. But is it ready to deal with Citizen’s Media and the 5th
Estate ?

Comments

i opened the sundays yesterday and was enjoying myself until i came across this article from mr cherkoff.

all i could think was fing hell he has only been back from holiday for a week. i wouldn't have even caught up with email in that time, and he has a piece in the bloody observer!